Fingernails

10/11/2023

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/fingernails-bfi-london-film-festival-review/ "Fingernails is undoubtedly the ideal title for this high-concept sci-fi flick. Despite falling short of its narrative and thematic potential, Christos Nikou still presents an efficient, thought-provoking satire about human behaviors influenced by love and technology. Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed competently lead a predictable yet continually engaging, funny, humanistic story. Conflicting messages and a forced, hypocritical ending don't do justice to the rest of the movie, which deserved a better conclusion to its study of the complexities and power of love." Rating: B-

11/4/2023

How do we know when we’re in love? And, even if we suspect we are, how do we know if we’re with the right person? In an age where individuals are increasingly out of touch with their own feelings – especially the one they seem to crave the most – these are pressing questions that desperately beg answers. So what should we do? Maybe technology is the answer. But how reliable is it? Can we trust it to give us definitive, accurate, meaningful results? Those are the issues that writer-director Christos Nikou addresses in his second feature outing, an excellent follow-up to his superb debut, “Apples” (2020), hitting his second cinematic home run in a row. In this insightful romantic comedy/drama, the filmmaker takes viewers on a heartfelt yet delightfully quirky absurdist odyssey in a society w

11/7/2023

No, sorry. This is just plain daft! "Anna" (Jessie Buckley) is living with "Ryan" (Jeremy Allen White) having got their certificate. What certificate? Well it's one that certifies that they are a love match! She was a teacher, but is now job hunting - so when an opportunity to work at the very facility that empowered their affection comes up, she heads straight to the office of boss "Duncan" (Luke Wilson) where she insists she would be great at "training" the couples who come to have their own relationships finessed and evaluated so they, too, can be verified. She is duly employed and paired with the inspirational and charismatic "Amir" (Riz Ahmed) - who clearly has his own secret to keep, too! What now ensues just lacks any sense of credibility and, for me, any attempts at satire just fel

6/9/2026

In Fingernails (2023), couples can “scientifically” determine whether they are in love by “testing” their nails. A mere nail trimming won’t do, however; it has to be the entire nail, ripped right off the nail bed — and why not? It’s no more arbitrary than any number of stupid things that people do to “prove” their love. Anna (Jessie Buckley) has tested 100% positive twice with her current boyfriend Ryan (Jeremy Allen White) and 50% once with co-worker Amir (Riz Ahmed). This ostensibly means that Amir is in love with Anna but Anna is not in love with him. However, she evidently likes Amir as more than just a friend, and her relationship with Ryan is well past the honeymoon phase. Anna asks Duncan (Luke Wilson), her boss and director of the “Love Institute,” if it’s possible to “have a p